On Tuesday, Dexter’s press secretary, Jennifer Stewart, posted a video on Facebook branding McNeil “not worth the risk,” an allegation levelled at Dexter’s New Democrats during the last provincial election.

For two minutes 13 seconds, set to music that might generously be called urban muzak, the video questions McNeil’s ability to manage his MLAs (Manning MacDonald’s trip to Florida and Michel Samson’s living expenses are referenced) and his views on health boards and energy utilities. It also features several of McNeil’s verbal blunders and outright contradictions that are less than flattering.

An NDP spokeswoman said the video is for the web only, right now.

Louise Carbert, a professor in Dalhousie University’s faculty of political science, said the video has some effective moments, although she finds it a bit long.

“I think it’s going to have to be edited down to be more effective, but there are certainly some chilling moments in there that I think would be effective.”

While the video might be new to Stewart’s Facebook page, it’s been on the NDP’s YouTube channel for two weeks, garnering a less-than-viral 327 views by Tuesday evening.

Carbert said it’s common for parties to release this kind of video, but she’s surprised it’s had so few views.

“They’re going to have to do better than 327 page views, even among NDP supporters,” she said. “I would expect that NDP supporters are going to be looking at it more than 327 times.”

Liberal party officials said Tuesday they were aware of the video and weren’t planning to make a similar one, choosing instead to challenge the government on its record.

Call it more fuel for the impending election fire, as politicos debate when the writ will drop in the same manner that other people try to predict the winner of the Kentucky Derby.

New Democrat MLAs have fanned out across the province in recent weeks, making announcements and reannouncements of funds and programs for issues as diverse as dental care for kids, paint for park benches and income tax refunds for low-income seniors.

Today, the government delivers its audited financial statements for the fiscal year that ended March 31.

The Tories and Liberals, meanwhile, continue to attack the government on the process used for and costs associated with hearings on the Muskrat Falls hydro project and the handling of the file in general.

On Tuesday, the Liberals were drawing attention to declining exports from 2008 to ’12 while the Progressive Conservatives challenged the government on the effectiveness of its mobile asphalt plant. Perhaps not surprisingly, the New Democrats issued a news release at about the same time the Tories did, theirs singing the praises of the very plant the Tories were condemning.

Meanwhile, the NDP was also on the attack – again – regarding money from a Liberal trust fund used to create the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Government.

Representatives of the provincial Liberal party and people connected to the institute reiterated Tuesday that the government’s concerns are nothing more than trying to reframe an issue that’s already been settled.